Susie Wolff joins the F1 women’s project

Susie Wolff, a former British driver and former Formula E Venturi team principal, has been appointed CEO of the new all-female F1 Academy, Formula One reported on Wednesday.

The aim of the new series is to help young female drivers step up in motorsport. No woman has started a Formula One Grand Prix since the late Italian Lella Lombardi in 1976. One of the Spanish pilots already announced is the Valencian Nerea Marti.

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Susie herself, née Stoddart, in 2012 became a development driver for Williams Racing. The following year she continued the same work and by participating in the young driver tests, she became the first woman to participate in an official F1 session since Giovanna Amati in 1992. In 2014 she participated in two free practice session, at the GP of Great Britain and Germany, but he never lined up in an official race as he did in the German Touring Car Championship (DTM).

The Scotsman, wife of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, will report directly to Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali in his commitment to develop female talent into a successful career in the world of four wheels.

“I think F1 Academy can represent more than just racing,” he said in a statement released ahead of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

“She can inspire women around the world to follow their dreams and realize that with talent, passion and determination, there is no limit to what they can achieve.”

The series will subsidize each single-seater with a budget of €150,000, while the drivers will cover the same amount of costs as the teams, whatever the shortfall. This will offer complete preparation to aspirants and give young talents involved in karts and other youth categories access to the basic level of experience required before competing in categories such as F3, F2 or F1 .

Pilots will learn to prepare technically, physically and mentally with integrated teams. The single-seater will be Tatuus T421 chassis, with engines supplied by Autotecnica with 165 hp and Pirelli tires. Fifteen drivers divided into five teams will participate -ART GP, Campos Racing, Rodin Carlin, MP Motorsport and Prema Racing-, therefore, each team will have three single-seaters.

They will compete in seven rounds with three races each, with the appointment likely to coincide with the weekend of Formula 1. In total, there will be 21 races in the season and 15 days of official tests.

The inaugural season included seven rounds. It starts on April 28 and 29, in Spielberg (Austria) and ends in Austin (Texas), from October 20 to 22.